LEXINGTON, OH July 17, 2008 – Five days ago, Dyson Racing left Lime Rock with two severely damaged race cars, one mortally wounded. Both cars ran today in the first test session for Sunday’s American Le Mans race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. By any standard, it was a Herculean task.
The team’s transporters left the Lime Rock, CT track five hours after the race last Saturday and drove to the shop in Poughkeepsie, NY. The team arrived at the shop at one o’clock Sunday afternoon, giving everyone some family and church time. The cars were unloaded and the #16 car was stripped by 6:00 PM that evening, and the #20 car was gone over and its damage assessed. The team came back on Monday morning and all the salvageable parts on the #16 car were tagged, bagged and loaded into flight cases while the damaged body work was being replaced on the second car. The team started loading Tuesday morning while work continued on the #20 car. It hit the ground at 3:00 PM that afternoon and the trucks rolled out at eight.
A new tub for the #16 car was flown in from Porsche in Germany and arrived at the Mid-Ohio paddock at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, just in time for the two trucks to arrive from New York State. The Porsche factory installed a new wiring harness and prepped the new tub before air freighting it stateside. The team’s five German engineers were here when the truck rolled in and they helped unload the trucks and set up the team’s canopy. As soon as the tub was set on car stands, the German engineers and the team members did the choreographed mechanic’s dance exclusive to racing of building a car from the ground up.
The #16 car received a new tub, nose, front splitter, left hand side floor and wiring harness and engine. The #20 car received a new left hand side floor, rear crash box, rear wing, rear diffuser, rear suspension carbon fiber mounting housing, left side A-arm pick up points, left side half shaft and a new engine.
“It normally takes weeks to build up a car,” noted Rob Dyson. “The team built this car in a day. Our guys did an incredible job in the shortest turn-around period of the season. Every single person at every level on the team gave it their all and made it happen. Porsche and their engineers pitched in and provided invaluable help. We have had some major repair jobs in our past, but this is the first time we have had to turn around two cars in such a short period of time. The yeoman’s job our team did was true grit in its purest form. I am so proud of this team.”
